Images and symbols, especially when it comes to something as ethereal as the monarchy, are everything. It is not that Germany is a second-table dish for Carlos III (his family has German origins and speaks the language), but the original plan, with a cinematographic vision, was to march down the Champs-Élysées, greet the public from the Arc de Triomphe and tour the Palace of Versailles, symbol of absolute power. But things don’t always go the way you want. The riots in France got in the way of his designs, and there was no point in appearing on television amid piles of garbage and a cloud of tear gas.
As the order of the factors does not alter the value of the product, Germany replaced France yesterday as the first international destination for Carlos III. But with the same message: redirect relations with Europe after the drama, farce and pantomime of Brexit, and show that the break with the EU should not mean -as the recalcitrant eurosceptics wanted, including Boris Johnson- a break with friends and allies on the continent. And to do this, use the soft power and fascination that British royalty inspires in many and everywhere.
Outside the chrome of the Arc de Triomphe, and in its place that of the Brandenburg Gate, which as a symbol (of Prussian power, the arrival of Nazism, the division of Berlin, German reunification) has nothing to envy to anyone. The hosts (literally) laid out the red carpet for Carlos and Camila, as if it were the Oscars, a military band performed God Save the King, against the background of the Union Jack, the German flag and also that of the European Union . symbols.
“We share the same history, the same culture, the same values,” said the British king after being officially received by German President Frank-Walter Steinmaier. Elizabeth II’s first official trip after her coronation was a tour of the Commonwealth countries, and a section of the Conservative Party would have wanted her son to follow in her footsteps. But no, she has opted for Europe.
Although constitutionally he should not and cannot get involved in politics, Carlos III is much more flexible in this regard than his mother, and makes no effort to hide his Europeanism and his passion for the environmental cause. He did so by receiving Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, at his castle after she and Prime Minister Sunak reached a compromise to “improve” Brexit. And also yesterday in Berlin, on the first of the three days of his official visit. He and Stenmaier, hand in hand, planted a tree in the gardens of the historic Bellvue Palace, residence of the German president, after a reception with the central theme of promoting green energy (hours earlier, Buckingham Palace had released the image of a new portrait of the monarch, on whose wrist a bracelet is visible as a symbol of his commitment to the fight against climate change).
It cannot literally be said that Carlos and Camila received a crowd shower at the Brandenburg Gate because, for security reasons, everything was strictly choreographed, and the space was closed to the masses for security reasons. But there were enough people – natives and members of the British community in Berlin, some with paper crowns on their heads – to color the photos and television images, and to have little flags of the two countries, and Ukraine as well. (Support for the Zelensky resistance is the other message that the Windsor chief wants to convey).
During the three-day visit to Germany, an important country in the British imagination due to the world wars and the role of the United Kingdom in the defeat of Hitler, Carlos III will deliver a speech today in the Bundestag, emphasizing the need for greater cooperation possible between the United Kingdom and the European Union, especially in an increasingly polarized global scenario of Russian aggressiveness, Chinese expansionism and questioning of globalization.
Charles will be the first British king to lay a wreath at a memorial to the German victims of Allied bombing in World War II. His mother chose not to do so, and limited herself to lighting a candle for reconciliation, when in 1992 she visited Dresden – brutally and needlessly destroyed by the Royal Air Force at the end of the conflict – and the citizens responded with booing and throwing eggs at her. tour of the central market. The current monarch will be more empathetic, will bow his head and pray silently in the church of Saint Nicholas in Hamburg. The German press says that he will make history.
Carlos III is not Isabel II, and, with subtlety, he wants to make his Europeanism clear. She has done it in Germany. Macron has missed it.
